This article explains how the changing of the administrations has impacted the future of California’s desert. As Trump’s term drew to a close, he removed protection from millions of acres to lands and allowed solar and wind farming construction on them. Conservations, expectedly, slammed the move, painting it as a final Trumpian effort to promote private industry over conservation efforts and wildlife. However, the answer for the Biden administration may not be that simple. President Biden has committed to fighting climate change, and a big part of that is going to be a transition to other energy sources such as solar and wind that will need new land to be built on. However, Biden has also endorsed plans to protect America’s lands and wildlife. This policy fight has left the Biden administration at a difficult juncture. 

This feels very relevant to the future of conservation and clean energy. Conservations and clean energy advocates have consistently sparred over land usage. Conservations don’t want to build on natural land, but it is necessary for large-scale clean energy to be successful. This is surely a preview of a battle that will continue to play out and grow as more investment is focused into clean energy development, and more land is developed, leaving conservation advocates even more adamant on defending the pockets of natural environment that are left. A frequent problem is that many species are specific to small areas, meaning that there are many areas where a species can be endangered by the construction of wind turbine farms or solar farms.